Improvement in non-conducting felt



UNITED STATES SQUIRES 'RADOLIEFE, 0F LITTLE FALts, New JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN NON-CONDUCTING FELT.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 190,159, datedMay 1, 1877.; application filed i November 13, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, S UmEs RADcLIFFE, of. Little Falls, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain Improvement in Non-Conducting Felt, of which the following is a specification:

The object of thisinvention is the production of afelt particularly adapted to be used as a nonconducting covering for steam-boilers, st am-pipes, andpipes I for conveying superheated steam.

Said invention consists in a felt made of cows hair, or equivalent material, and the fiber of Typha lat'folia, or cat-tail flag, or equivalent material, but having a backing made entirely of hair, or its equivalent, or with a greater proportion of hair, or its equivalent, than that contained in the remaining portion of its thickness.

In making this non-conducting covering for steam-boilers, steam-pipes, &c., I thoroughly mix a quantity of the fiber from the heads (or bobs, as they are sometimes called) of cattail flag with the requisite proportion of coarse hair, usually cows hair, though similar hair from other cattle will answer the purpose. This may be very well done by putting them througha cotton-beater together.

The proportions which I prefer for the principal portion of the thickness of my felt, and

for most of the uses for which my felt is designed, are from ten to twenty per cent. of hair to eighty or ninety per cent. of fiber of the cat-tail flag, though these proportions may be varied. For the backing a larger proportion ofhair, say fifty per cent., may be used; or the backing may be made of hair alone.

Thematerials for both the principal portion of the thickness of the felt and the back ing, having been thus thoroughly mixed, are then put through a regular bat-card, where they are formed in to bats. The bat-card must be kept covered during the operation of forming the bat. This may be done by means of a tin jacket fitting over the workers and strippers. The bat which is designed to form the backing is then laid upon the bat designed to be exposed to heat, and which contains the greater proportion of the cat-tail flag, and

both are steamed and felted together, so as to form a single felt.

The felt made and felted together as above described is then ready for use, and is particularly adapted and designed to be used as a non-conducting covering for steam-boilers, steam-pipes, and even pipes for conveying superheated steam the fiber of cat-tail flag which it contains, and which predominates in that portion designed to be exposed to high heat, fitting it peculiarly for that purpose, and its cheapness reducing the cost of its use to a mere trifle. I

If the entire thickness of the felt were made of the proportions ofvcat-tail flag and hair hereinbefore mentioned, for that portion directly exposed to the heat, it would be rather tender to handle, whileon the other hand, it the entire thickness of the felt were made of the proportions necessary to give considerawith the smallest proportion of hair which will hold it together, while the backing, which is made of a greater proportion of hair, or even hair alone, and which gives greater strength to the felt, is removed from theintense heat.

The very great non-conducting properties of the fiber of cat-tail flag, and its remarkable power to resist high degrees of heat, have long been recognized; but the great objection to its general employment for covering steamboilers and steam-pipes has been owing to the great difficulty of placing and securing it in position, especially in its raw state, and has involved the necessity of expensive coverings to confine it to such surfaces.

My invention obviates these difficulties, and furnishes a felt which is loose or open on the side exposed to intense heat, and which is admirably adapted to these purposes, and at the same time furnishes it at a trifling cost, for though the fiber of cat-tail flag has no felting properties, a very small amount of PATENT flrrro.

coarse hair is sufficient to bind together that I claim as my invention- The felt ihereinbefore -.deseribed, composed of thefiber of cat-tail flag and hair, and having a portion of its thickness made either of hair alone, or having a greater proportion of hair mixed with-the fiberotIcat-tail flag than that contained in the remainder of its thickness, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

s UIR s RADOLLFFE.

Witnesses:

EDWINM. DONNELhY, THOS. P. How. 

